Janette glanced at me as she rose from the booth, her humor more than evident. So was the relief. If I was jokingwith her, things couldn’t be all that bad. She knew me well enough to understand that.
For the next hour, I cleaned, refilled saltshakers and ketchup bottles, and managed to get Libby out so Tate could at least attempt to do some homework. When the lunch crowd came in, Janette and I dealt with the rush. It had been so long since I’d put a full day in like this that I felt exhausted when the crowd finally thinned out.
I almost groaned when the door opened again, but I quickly smiled when Howard Sutton strolled in with a petite woman with severely cut jet-black hair, pale porcelain skin, and lips so red they seemed out of place on her. Maybe inappropriate was the better word. When she moved to sit in a booth and pushed her blazer back, the badge on her hip gleamed in the dull light. The last thing I wanted to do was serve the two of them. I’d heard a couple of things about the woman. Her tenacity was becoming renowned in The Hut.
“Hey, chief,” I sang as I approached them, resigned to the fact that I was the only one available.
“Ayda.” My name on Sutton’s lips had the woman’s head snapping in my direction, her eyes narrowing before she caught herself and smoothed her features out.
“What can I get you?”
Sutton gave me a knowing smile. “Just coffee. If I eat without the girls, they will murder me in my sleep.”
“For you?” I asked the agent who was still gawping at me. I was tempted to remind her to shut her mouth before she started catching flies.
“Same for me…Ayda,” she said, testing my name on her tongue.
I fought hard not to roll my eyes, and I walked away,purposefully passing Tate’s table as I did. The moment his eyes met mine, he knew. His attention flickered to Howard’s table, and he nodded. No Hound talk.
I pulled the order and headed back to the pair of them, sliding their coffees on the table, spinning on my heel in an attempt to make a smooth exit before I was forced to have a conversation with the woman. I wasn't fast enough.
“You’re Tucker’s old lady,” she said, her voice whiny and grating. I wasn’t sure how Sutton sat and had a full conversation with her. She was already abrasive, and she’d said a total of four words.
“It’s not a secret.”
“And you’re proud of the fact?”
“Goddammit, Winnie,” Sutton exhaled with evident frustration. Apparently, he didn’t handle it well.
“It’s okay, Howard. Let her ask her questions,” I said sweetly. I was ready for her, everyone in the club was. She’d driven past the gate more times than we could count. We even had a nice shot of her on her cell phone as she passed by, setting a bad example. “I’m very proud of my fiancé, agent. Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Hmm. Maybe becauseyour fiancéis a bully and a murderer?”
“You’re making quite the assumption there.”
“And you’re making a fool of yourself.”
“That’s rich coming from a grown woman who calls herself Winnie.” I raised my eyebrows waiting for her to hurl another insult in my direction, but it never came. Her cheeks just got a deeper shade of pink and her fists balled on the surface of the table.
“It’s a family name.”
I glanced at Howard, noting the pressed line of his mouth where he was trying his best not to react and shrugged.
“I didn’t ask.”
That’s when I turned and walked away. It was my first interaction with Winnie the ATF agent, but I knew it wouldn’t be my last. I could tell she was only just getting started with all of us.
Chapter Eighteen
DREW
Slater was sitting opposite me in my office, twirling the small wooden box in his hand.
A slow smile crept into place, my eyes narrowing as I drummed a pen on the top of the desk. I was more relaxed than I should have been considering the shit storm we were currently living under.
“Told you I’d sort it,” Slater said, that arrogance he wore so well shining through.
“We can’t let Ayda find out about this until its time.”